Staff vote to strike at Leeds College of Building

Over three-quarters (77%) of members who voted, supported strike action and more than nine in ten (96%) supported action short of a strike. Dates for the action will be announced shortly.
 
The union says the college has reneged upon an agreement to protect staff pay for three years as some staff now face pay cuts of as much as £10,000 a year. On top of pay cuts, the college wants to make 39 redundancies.
 
Lecturers who survive the cull have also been told to expect an increase in working hours of up to 20%, which the union says is an attempt to deliver 'teaching on the cheap'.
 
UCU has accused management of using the cuts in further education as an excuse for rushing through its own cuts agenda. The union pointed to the college's latest financial accounts which showed that it was holding £10,157,000 in reserves, including cash balances of £7,272,000.
 
UCU regional official, Julie Kelley, said: 'Today's result underlines the of strength feeling amongst UCU members against the college's plans to break promises, slash pay and axe jobs. The college has broken its word to staff and seems intent on trying to deliver teaching on the cheap. LCB is clearly using the current funding challenges in further education as an excuse to rush through cuts, even though it is in a healthy financial position.'
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'UCU members at Leeds have the full support of the national union. Strike action is always a last resort but we refuse to tolerate this attack on our members' jobs, pay and conditions.'